Top 7 proven ways to get hired

Editor's note: This article was originally published on Anita Fowler's blog, Live Like You Are Rich. It has been republished here with permission.

Before my son was born I was an office and hiring manager at a company. Each time I advertised to hire someone, I received over 100 resumes. I interviewed a lot of people. I've learned that there are things that can hinder your ability to be hired. There are also ways to increase your chances of getting hired as well. Start by looking for jobs online, help wanted signs, and advertising yourself on social media. Search diligently each day. Once you have found a job to apply to, begin by doing these top seven proven ways to get hired.

1. Fine tune your resume

The first thing hiring managers see is your resume. You want to make a great impression. It's true what you hear, that employers typically spend less than a minute looking at your resume (unless it catches their attention). Here are some things to do and not do.

Don't send in a resume that is obviously applying for a different type of job

Many resumes I received were focused on a different position (often in a completely unrelated field). It was like the person who sent in their resume had tailored it to another job they had previously applied for and never bothered to revise it before sending it to me. As a result, I could tell that they didn't value the position I was hiring for so I deleted it.

Have someone else with good grammar look over your resume

Resumes that had lots of typos and/or that were not coherent I also tossed out.

Sell yourself but don't over exaggerate

Use bullet points, short sentences, sell yourself, use descriptive words, be clear, and don't lie. Sell yourself but don't over exaggerate.

Don't send in a resume for a job that you don't have all the qualifications for

The exception may be if you have nine of the 10 qualifications, then you could maybe get away with applying for it. Just let them know somewhere that you have nine of the 10 requirements (and which one you are lacking). If they are interested, they will contact you.

Leave at least two or three references

of trustworthy people and include their updated phone numbers. Also, call your references before hand to ask permission/make sure they know you are putting them down as a reference. This will give them time to think of great things to say about you. When references sound rather shocked or surprised when asked about the individual, it typically doesn't reflect well on the applicant.

Use a professional email address

Keep the resume less than two pages long

2. Clean up your social media

Yep that's right, before you send out your resume to anyone, make sure your social media is presentable. What to delete?

Foul language

Pictures of you partying/drinking

You gambling

Skanky shots/immodestly dressed selfies

Basically, anything that would make another person wonder about your ability to be reliable and/or be professional.

Often the first thing I would do after sorting through all the bad resumes is take the good ones and do a quick Google search of each person. Immediately their social media pages would pop up. I'd spend a few minutes clicking through the photos.

It was surprising to me that people who were desperately looking for a job had 20 or sometimes even 100+ photos on their social media pages of them partying-hard- and/or lots of crude messages/updates. I recommend not putting that stuff up on the Internet at all, but if you have already, then delete them (making them private doesn't always hide them).

3. Follow up after you send in your resume

In my experience, a lot of people sent in resumes to me because it was a requirement for them to keep their unemployment. Further, resumes may get blocked and never make it into the right hands. Unless the ad says not to call, I recommend following up either later the same day or the next to make sure it arrived. Following up also gets your resume on the top of the stack or starred in their inbox.

4. Follow instructions VERY CAREFULLY

After these first few steps, I would send a short task to the applicants I was interested in. I did this for multiple reasons. A few of them were to ensure that they:

Had critical thinking skills

Could follow instructions

Were serious about getting the job

Could complete something by a certain deadline.

After I got the questions back, those who exemplified the aforementioned qualities would be called for an interview. So even if you are asked to do something really simple, follow the instructions carefully and complete the task thoroughly.

5. What to do at the interview

Show up on time

Leave plenty of time to arrive (sometimes there is horrible traffic) but don't go into the building too early. I'd say that arriving about seven minutes early is good. I remember one day I had a crazy schedule and it was about time for lunch. I was very hungry. Just as I was about to take my lunch break. My interviewee came in. She was 45 minutes early! Needless to say it wasn't my favorite interview. I let her wait a little but I still wasn't happy about having to scarf down my lunch as she sat in the waiting area outside my office.

Dress modestly and neatly

It's uncomfortable to interview someone who has a low cut shirt or tiny skirt. It's not a great impression if men have wrinkled shirts, dirty, or stinky clothes.

lay off the 'glam' look

Also, lay off the "glam" look. Unless you are going to an interview for a modeling position or something similar use a moderate amount of make up. Generally employers don't want to hire someone who will distract the rest of the staff. If you are extremely good looking, I'd say dress even more modestly (high neckline, long skirts or pants). Put your hair in a nice ponytail or wear glasses. And no matter what you look like, don't flirt with the office staff while you are there.

Don't complain and make excuses

I almost always threw out the resumes of interviewees that went on and on about how they were slighted in their last jobs. How they were the victim of their last boss, or how horrible their life was. Even if it was true, it wasn't productive. If you think about it, an interview is a time to talk yourself up and to prove that you are the best candidate. Keep answers positive, honest, and reasonable in length. Here is a guideline: If you are shy think of ways to use four sentences or more to answer. If you are a chatter box monitor yourself to not say more than eight sentences to answer a question. Keep eye contact, relax, and be personable.

6. Find out about the company

I was always _really impressed when those who I interviewed had taken time to find out about our company beforehand. It was a huge green flag for me. So mention it once or possibly twice. Often a smooth way to mention it without seeming like you are "trying" to impress could be at the end. Often the interviewer will ask, "Do you have any questions for me?" At this point you could say, "I was looking on your website and it looks like you deal with __, if I were hired would I be involved in that?" or "It looks like your company specializes in ___. That is really interesting, how long have you been doing that?" This shows that you take initiative and that you are serious about the job.

7. Once you are hired, do all you can to keep your job

Try to start when your employer wants you to start. After that (even if your employer doesn't mention it), treat the first 30-60 days as a trial period. You are easier to fire now (when you are new and training) than you will ever be. So make sure to be on your BEST behavior. Show up ON TIME. Don't call in sick (if at all possible). Study after hours. Take notes. Learn all you can. We hired and then quickly fired in this first 30-60 days. Many times new hires wouldn't show up on time, were constantly sick, and/or weren't working hard.

Also, don't talk back. If someone would talk back to me or to other managers early on we would start with the warning/firing process. If you don't have one, work on developing a good work ethic. Give your all at your job (no matter what it is) and your odds of keeping it will be much higher.

Getting hired is a process but if you follow these top seven steps you will get a job much quicker than if you don't.

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Anita is a resourceful wife, mother, author, and friend. She writes about a variety of ways to create a rich life (both materially and non-materially) on any income on her blog Live Like You Are Rich. She is also the co-author of "Living a Rich Life as a Stay-at-Home Mom."